The Hearts of Time
by Animefangirl365
Summary: Madara is dead. The war is over. The cycle is broken. But what is the price? Naruto and Sasuke discover that all their comrades have fallen, and they are the only ones left. They travel back to fix what went wrong, but what else will they find? Manga Spoilers with no explanation! Read at your own risk!
1. Chapter 1

**Me: Ohayo! So, I'm doing another over-done theme; time-travel. However, I hope this will be an original outcome of it! (I would have NO idea; there are too many time travel fanfics that it would take me a year to read them all! Maybe more!) So, on with it! There is a hint in the cover photo…. Intuitive readers, your task will be to interpret the picture to predict the main storyline! I want to see if there's anyone else with my line of thinking! I say this, because the inspiration for this story came from a photo I saw on Facebook; aka the cover photo. SO, guess away! I hope you enjoy! Oh, warning, my fight scenes suck. Sorry about that. But the rest of it is better… I hope… *gulp***

As the two former rivals faced off against Madara, they began to predict his actions; it became easier to dodge and counter each wave of attacks.

Then, Naruto had an idea. "Hey Sasuke, remember that mission we went on where those bandits stole the golden statue?" Sasuke retorted, "What about it?"

"Well, do you remember why that mission succeeded in the end?" Sasuke thought for a moment, and then it hit him. "Ah! That's it!" and with that, they quickly worked together to fight their way closer to Madara. Suddenly, said villain was immobile. When the trio of fighters investigated the cause, they found that half of the Nara clan, including Shikamaru, had shown up on the battlefield and restrained the resurrected Uchiha.

"Let go of me!" he yelled. "Argh… Zetsu, get them!" but when Madara called the former Akatsuki member's attention, Hinata snuck up behind him dealt a chakra-infused blow, separating him from Obito. Once he was free, Sakura charged and quickly incapacitated the manifestation of Madara's darkness. Madara gritted his teeth and said, "Let's see you dodge this one!" and he began creating a bubble of chakra around himself.

Within seconds, the bubble expanded out like a dome, sweeping the Naras off their feet and breaking the jutsu. Naruto and Sasuke, however, managed to stay standing, Asura and Indra's reincarnated power adding to their strength.

They continued to dodge wave after wave of the same attack, getting closer to Madara each time. They finally reached him, and dealt a well coordinated **Scorch Release: Halo Gale Jet Black Arrow Style Zero**, tearing a hole through Madara's chest, and destroying all his vital organs, killing him immediately.

After making sure he was truly dead, Naruto said, "His Rinnegan are too powerful to be left in this world. Even if we put them under every protection that the Five Nations have to offer, one corrupt leader could make it futile."

Sasuke nodded and said, "Even though I had to admit it, for the second time in an hour, I agree with you. And with that, he used his **Blaze Release: Suzanoo Kagutsuchi** to destroy Madara's body, along with the fabled Rinnegan eyes. Suddenly, they felt a presence in front of them and looked up, but instead of seeing the ravaged battlefield, they were back in the mindscape where they both met the Sage of Six Paths, and there stood the legendary man in front of them.

He was smiling from ear to ear and said, "I am very proud of you both. Not only did you overcome your differences to fight beside each other and listen to one another, but you also did what no other incarnations of my sons have done; you realized that the power you vanquished was too powerful to be left in existence."

"The others before you, including the First Hokage, the incarnation of Asura, tried to contain the power and keep it from the world. None of them realized that corrupt individuals would come into power and seize that which they tried to conceal. Because of that, when you agreed wholeheartedly on destroying Madara's Rinnegan, you broke the cycle, meaning that you two are the last incarnations of my children. While some would be sad, I find it a blessing."

"My sons fought over who would be my successor, and that quarrel has been passed down for generations. In each generation until this one, the incarnations of Asura and Indra have disagreed over what to do with the power they vanquished. In almost every case, Asura's incarnation wanted to conceal or destroy the power. Indra's incarnation wanted to use it for "peace", and because they were still quarrelling over inherited or vanquished power, the cycle was never broken. You boys' fates are more complicated than you realize. And remember what you have learned here. Farewell!" And they were back in the present.

Naruto and Sasuke's faces slowly lit up with smiles; they had done it! Madara was gone, and they had broken the cycle of Asura and Indra's hatred. Naruto released his cloak and began to bounce around and cheer at their success. Before he could help it, Sasuke also felt like dancing; so much had happened. He had seen the darkness of his path and abandoned it before it was too late; creating a new one that gave him a warmth that he hadn't felt since before his family died.

However, nothing comes without a price. After a minute, they finally broke out of their revelry long enough to realize that it was quiet; too quiet. They looked around and found, to their horror, all their fallen comrades. Naruto entered sage mode to search for signs of life, but he could find none; Madara's death had cost them the lives of everyone they had known. Naruto sank to his knees in despair, and Sasuke followed soon after.

Once again, they felt a presence, and when they looked up, they were in the center of the circle of the bijuus and their most recent jinchurikies. They simply hung their heads again. Matatabi said, "Young ones, we have held conference. We, inside our Jinchurikis, have heard of everything you two have been through and done. Kurama has given a most insightful speech on you, Naruto-kun. You have matured well beyond your years; and for that, we believe you are ready; you have a chance to fix what has gone wrong." Their heads jerked up, with a faint glimmer of hope in their tear-ladden eyes.

"We will send you to the past. You must find your younger selves, wherever they may be at the time we send you, and convince them, in any way necessary, about what they must change. I will tell you this though; your younger selves will be the only ones you can make any contact with, meaning you cannot fight their battles for them or get others to help you. The only exception is directly defending your own or each other's younger selves. Do you accept?" after a confirming glance at each other, they nodded and wiped their tears from their eyes.

Shukaku said, "Good luck! And I hope to fight you two again someday; you gave me quite a challenge last time." Gaara nodded and said, "I concur. It will be fun. Until next time, Naruto, Sasuke." Yugito said, "Well, take care, kiddos!" Isobu said, "I never met either of you until very recently, but from what I've heard, I know you can do this!" Yagura just nodded.

Son Goku growled out, "Thanks again for helping us and the old man, Naruto! You two, Sasuke. We owe you our thanks many time over." And Roshi said, "You have done much. Take care!" Kokuo and Han didn't have much to say, and neither did Saiken, but Utakata said, "Thank you for everything you did for me Naruto, both before and after I died. Maybe, if this goes perfectly, I might get to see Hotaru again."

Chomei just made a buzzing sound that Fuu interpreted as thanks, and then she gave her own. Gyuki said, "Sasuke, I'm still not too happy about that number you did on me a few months ago, but I know why now. We can have a rematch when you get back!" Killer Bee agreed and said, without rapping for once, "Take care now you two!" And Kurama bid his temporary farewell to his friends. Matatabi quickly said, "I almost forgot! Naruto, Sasuke, Kurama, if your younger selves die, so will you." And they nodded.

Kurama stepped into the center with the boys, the other bijuus closed their eyes, and their chakra began to surround the boys, mixing together to make a rainbow of chakras. After a few moments, they began to feel differently and the chakra disappeared. Kurama disappeared and was back inside his unsealed room.

True to Matatabi's word, the village guards, Kotetsu and Izumo, didn't notice them at all. They walked through the gates and decided to go to the Hokage's building first to see who was Hokage. And guaranteed, the Hokage would have a calendar that they could check the date with. When they hopped in the window, they found Hiruzen Sarutobi, grey hair and all, sitting at his desk with shadow clone doing the paper work for him. Both Naruto and Sasuke made a mental not of that trick so they could use it when they became Hokage considering that the paperwork was really the only thing Tsunade complained about.

They made their way to the calendar on the wall and observed that it was the day after Naruto's fight with Mitsuki, meaning they were graduating and meeting Kakashi. They made their way to the Academy and concealed their presence well enough that their younger selves wouldn't sense them. After Kakashi came, did the introductions, told them about the survival test, and left, they waited for Sakura to leave. She finally did, and Naruto and Sasuke approached their younger selves. **(A/N: I'm going to refer to the younger Naruto and Sasuke and what they say in bold, okay? That way it's easier to tell them apart.)**

**Naruto** and **Sasuke ** went into defensive positions, and the confusion set in after about 5 seconds. Sasuke decided to mess with his younger self a bit, and he said, "Damn… I knew I was a little slow on the uptake, but I didn't think I was _that_ slow! Right, Naruto?" **"How do you kno–"** said **Naruto.** Catching on, Naruto said, "I always said that those fangirls were fawning over nothing Sasuke!" **"What the h–"** "Uh-uh, what would your- I mean my- I mean our mother react to that kind of language **Sasuke**?" Now **they** were truly confused. Finally, Naruto and Sasuke couldn't take it anymore and busted into laughter. **Naruto** said, **"Now explain just what the hell is going on here!"**

Naruto said, "Well, I'm Naruto Uzumaki, number one hyperactive ninja, and this is my teammate, Sasuke Uchiha, who used to be the number one fangirl magnet. And we are from the future!"

"**Okay then, prove it."** said **Sasuke.** Sasuke turned to Naruto, who nodded. Sasuke covered his right eye, and activated his Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan. Once both past selves had looked into Sasuke's left eye, they were trapped in a temporary genjustu. Then Sasuke turned his right eye on Naruto and brought their younger selves into Naruto's mindscape, where said jinchuriki was waiting. "Welcome to my mindscape! I know it's a sewer, but it's that way for a reason, and you're about to see why. Follow me!" and he led them to Kurama's room. Both **Naruto** and **Sasuke** paled considerably when they saw the nine tails. Naruto said, "Don't worry, Kurama won't hurt you, because he's my friend now!"

"**Ku-kurama?"** asked **Naruto**. Then, said bijuu spoke and said, "Hey kid, I went and forgot how small you were way back then! Haha! Nice to see you small and normal again. Well, I guess normal went out the window with me around, but you get the point."

**Naruto** and **Sasuke** both said, **"That's… the nine tails!"** Naruto said, "Yup! It was sealed inside me the day I was born by the Fourth Hokage. You see, bijuu can't be killed since they are made entirely of chakra. So, they have to be sealed! For reasons I will thoroughly explain in a bit, I was picked as the 'lucky' jinchuriki." **"Jinchuriki? And I believe you now, considering I just learned about …Kurama's" **he stumbled over the name **"existence inside me last night." Sasuke's** jaw dropped and said, **"Wait a second… so these guys are really from the future?!" Naruto** nodded and said, **"They would have to be. That's the only way they could know all this."**

Sasuke said, "Well done, you figured it out! You see, in our time, some things went _very_ wrong, and we've come back to fix it. You two are the only ones who can see or hear us, so we'll limit our contact with you to when you're alone so you don't look crazy talking to yourselves. **Sasuke** said, **"Do I ever beat Itachi?!"** Sasuke mumbled, "Knew that was coming…" he sighed and said, "Listen, I made a lot of dumb mistakes the first time around, and I'm here to make sure they aren't repeated. Focusing on killing Itachi was one of them. If I had waited to learn the full truth, the world I know might have turned out a little different. I will tell you the truth now, so that you won't repeat the mistakes that led to so much trouble."

"But first, you need to learn a little background. Naruto, you learned about everything that happened that night, right? Would you fill our younger selves in on it?" Naruto nodded, and then he closed his eyes for a moment. In about a second, four chairs popped into thin air, hovering just above the water. After they all sat down, Naruto began to tell **them** about everything leading up to and including that night of Obito's attack.

"You guys know about the First Hokage, right? Well, he had a bout with Kurama many years ago, and the kyuubi was eventually sealed inside his wife, Mito Uzumaki. They discovered that when a female Jinchuriki is giving birth, the seal weakens so far that it would take little to no effort to free the bijuu. Many years later, she was nearing the end of her lifetime, which was rather long due to her Uzumaki longevity. Anyway, so the Uzumaki clan of Uzushiogakure was known for their sealing jutsus and astounding life force."

"So, when Mito was nearing the end of her life as an old woman, the obvious choice was to select another Uzumaki with a particularly exceptional life force to be her successor as Kurama's jinchuriki. So, a girl named Kushina was selected. She came to Konoha and became the second nine tails jinchuriki."

"She met and fell in love with a boy named Minato Namikaze, who would later become the Fourth Hokage. So, she became pregnant, and she was to tell no one about it. Just a few weeks before she was due to have her baby, they decided to induce labor under controlled conditions to prevent Kurama's escape."

"However, a masked man penetrated the barrier, killed the ANBU guards and midwives, and took the newborn baby hostage. While Minato was saving the baby, the masked man released Kurama from Kushina's body. Normally, a bijuu extraction kills the jinchuriki, but due to her life force, Kushina survived the process. Kurama was placed under the masked man's control, and he attacked the village. After Minato broke the masked man's control, he teleported the kyuubi away from the village."

"He realized that he needed to seal Kurama inside a person, a child would be the best option, but he wasn't selfish enough to ask another parent to subject their child to that fate. So, he used the Reaper Death Seal to seal half of Kurama's chakra inside the baby's body, and the other half inside himself so that he would take it with him to the next life once the Shinigami took his soul."

"Another point of reasoning was that his son was also an Uzumaki, who developed inside the body of the previous jinchuriki, making a near perfect match. But, before the seal was complete, Kurama attempted to kill the baby so that he wouldn't be sealed, but Kushina and Minato jumped in the way of his attack, sacrificing their lives so that Kurama could be sealed and their child would live. The seal was completed, and before Minato died, the former Third Hokage arrived and heard Minato's last wish that his son be seen as a hero for holding the kyuubi inside his body."

"As you most likely already pieced together, I was the boy born on that night, meaning that I'm the son of the former kyuubi jinchuriki and the Fourth Hokage."

**Naruto** said, **"So… the Fourth Hokage… was my father?!"** Naruto nodded and said,

"Yup! In my timeline, there is eventually an enemy that pushed me completely off the edge, and I nearly broke the seal on the kyuubi. However, suddenly, I was in this very room, with the sealed kyuubi, and the Fourth Hokage, my father. You see, before he died, he layered his and my mother's chakra into the seal so that at different times of need with the kyuubi, they would come to my aid. My father appeared to reestablish the seal when I got out of control, and my mother appeared to teach me _how_ to control it. She also has the same addiction to ramen, and she has the same speech pattern."

**Naruto's** eyes started to tear up; he was happy to finally know who his parents were and why he was chosen as the holder for the kyuubi. **Sasuke** said, **"I hate to ruin the moment, but why did the rest of us know none of this? I'm not trying to be offensive, I'm just curious."**

Naruto nodded and said, "Within a few days after Kurama was sealed inside me, it became clear to the now reinstated Third Hokage that my dad's wish would not be honored, so he forbade everyone from speaking about it in hopes that I would have a chance at having friends. However, the adults found a way around that; they simply told their kids to stay away from me. A few parents were smarter, so they didn't even say "be careful around him." The kids who weren't ordered to keep a good distance from me were Shikamaru, Choji, Ino, and Kiba, but Ino stayed away simply 'cuz she didn't like me for always picking fights with Sasuke." At that, Sasuke nearly fell out of his chair laughing. **Sasuke** just looked on confusedly; how could he ever laugh like that again? Everything he cared about was taken from him in one night, so how would he ever laugh?!

Sasuke said, "It's okay, now it's my turn to tell you something." He cleared his throat and sat up straighter, then he said, "After the masked man's attack on the village, the Uchiha clan was blamed for it considering that it's said that the sharingan can control the bijuus, so everyone assumed that the Uchiha clan attacked the village and killed the Fourth Hokage. They were right that an Uchiha was behind it, but they were not connected to the clan since they were supposed to be dead." **Sasuke's** jaw dropped; how could someone do something like that?! "I'll get into the masked man's story later. Anyway, so the Uchiha clan began planning a coup de' tat since they were now outcasts from the village."

"Itachi, my older brother, was working as an ANBU and, putting duty before his clan, told the Hokage about the coup. Shisui, a man with astounding genjutsu skills, attempted to stop the coup. However, he was stopped by a man named Danzo Shimura, who took his right eye. Shisui barely escaped with his left eye, and he met with Itachi. He told Itachi what Danzo had done, and he gave Itachi his left eye to keep safe. Shisui then jumped off the cliff and into the river, committing suicide and awakening Itachi's mangekyo sharingan."

"Itachi then told the Hokage that diplomacy had failed due to Danzo's interference. The Hokage informed Danzo that the coup wasn't over, so Danzo ordered Itachi to kill his own clan, hence becoming an S-class missing-nin, and in turn an unreliable source against his treachery. Itachi went to the Hokage again and requested that I be allowed to live since I didn't know about the coup. The Hokage honored his wish, and Itachi regretfully completed his mission, and then he joined the Akatsuki as a spy for Konoha, as the Hokage allowed him to sneak in from time to time to check on me and give reports."

By this point, **Sasuke** was openly crying; he now knew the truth about why he had lost his precious brother. He hadn't cried for years, not since shortly after his family died, and the action felt strange to him now.

"**Well, it looks like we're both a little crooked, huh?"** said **Naruto.** A small smile twitched on the crying **Sasuke's** face; that statement was so true that you would have to search a long time to find its superior in the honesty department.

Naruto closed his eyes, focused, and a sink and towel on a rack appeared near the wall. He said, "Alright, Even if I didn't know you too terribly well as a kid, I still get the feeling you're not the type to cry. GO clean up your face, okay?" and he gave a reassuring smile at **Sasuke.** Said boy nodded, and he walked over to the wall to wash away the tear tracks.

**Naruto** said, **"Can we move on from the depressing stuff already? And we must've been here for hours already."** His future counterpart answered, "Alright, depressing stuff is out the window for now. And while it may seem like hours or even days in here, absolutely no time passes outside. In fact, it's almost similar to the Tsukuyomi, but it's not set to 72 hours."

**Sasuke** gaped at him and said, **How do you know about that?! I only barely overheard my father mention it once, it's top-secret!"** Naruto said, "It's not so secret if you experience it, now is it? I endured Itachi's Tsukuyomi once; it was awful. Sasuke here did too…. And the only thing I can say is that Itachi cares so much about Sasuke that he goes overboard trying to pretend he doesn't." and they all burst into laughter; even the future Sasuke, who remembered quite clearly that Tsunade had been his only hope of recovering.

Then, **Naruto's** stomach announced that he was hungry. Sasuke burst into laughter again and then said, "Hah, only _your_ stomach would act up in a place where you're not supposed to get hungry!" causing both future and past Narutos to grin sheepishly.

Then Naruto said, "Sasuke, I just remembered, Matatabi said that we can only interact with our younger counterparts, which probably means we don't need to eat! I mean seriously, how cou-" and his stomach rumbled, breaking him off mid-sentence. **Sasuke** said, **"Well, I reason that since you were sent here to help us avoid the mistakes you- er, we, made last time, that you'll probably be hanging out at our houses, meaning you can probably eat there."** After agreeing that **Sasuke** was right, they exited the mindscape, erasing the traces of their stay in Kurama's room.

When they made it back, sure enough it was the exact same second as when they entered the mindscape. Sasuke then said, "Well, since you guys are gonna be teammates and friends and we're all in this time-travelling thing together, why don't we get one big place for all of us?" which everyone agreed with.

They quickly found an apartment that would fit the four of them, and they rented it. Between the four of them, it didn't take long to move **Naruto** and **Sasuke's** stuff from their old apartments to the new one. They handed their old apartment keys back to the landlords, and settled in their stuff at the new place. Between **Naruto** and **Sasuke**, there was just enough stuff to comfortably fit the apartment.

Then **Naruto** said, **"Ah! We gotta get beds for the future guys!"** and with that, they went to the furniture store. After Naruto and Sasuke each pointed out a bed each, their younger counterparts bought the selections, which were rather cheap. Back at the apartment, they finished settling in the new beds. And then Sasuke had an idea. "What about we play some kind of board game? Or card game?" and they agreed on Uno. After finally deciding to keep score, they began the game.

They were sitting around the table in the clockwise order of Naruto, **Sasuke**, Sasuke, **Naruto.** Naruto shuffled and dealt the deck, and flipped the top card, revealing a red 7. **Sasuke** played a red skip, and **Naruto** played a red reverse. Sasuke put down a red skip, providing Naruto with a turn. After he played a blue skip, Sasuke dealt a blue reverse, taking it back to **Naruto**. The game went on like that, until **Naruto** won.

Suddenly, they registered a presence outside the door, and they heard a soft knock. When **Sasuke** got up and answered it, it was the Third Hokage. "May I come in?" He asked. Sasuke nodded and led him inside, closing the door behind him. When the Hokage entered the living room, he started for a few seconds at Naruto and Sasuke's locations, and they began to wonder if he could also see the time travelers, until they remembered that Naruto and Sasuke were still wielding their Uno cards in what would appear to be midair to the Hokage.

He chuckled and said, "Well, I'll be… Ino and Sakura were apparently following you, "**Sasuke**, and got curious when they saw **Naruto** enter the same apartment mere minutes later. They came to the window and freaked out when they saw two sets of cards moving and playing on their own. Now I see that they were not exaggerating. **Boys**, I need you to tell me exactly what is going on here because this might just be a very dangerous forbidden jutsu."

**Naruto** flailed his hands in front of his face and said, **"It's nothing like that old man!"** **Sasuke** said, **"You see, we have visitors from the future, and the people who sent them back made it so only Naruto and I could see, smell, or hear them since we are their past counterparts. In other words, a future Naruto and future me made their way back here to fix some things that went "wrong" last time."** then he mumbled, **"Though they haven't exactly elaborated on what "wrong" meant."**

The Hokage rubbed his beard thoughtfully and said, "My, that is a little unusual. Hmm.. uh… future Naruto, or Sasuke, would one of you please write on a piece of paper what exactly went wrong in your time? If I am going to help you all set things right, I need to know what I need to fix."

Naruto quickly grabbed a pen and paper and wrote, "No can do old man. The rules are rules. We can only fix what we did wrong in our time, so we can't tell you what you did wrong. Sorry about that!" Needless to say, the Hogake was dumbfounded. Not only did he see a pen start writing by itself, but Naruto also finally acknowledged a rule; a rather large one, at that.

He sighed and said, "Very well then. I will tell Ino and Sakura that there was nothing to worry about. Have a good day, all four of you." They bid their farewells, but the Hokage only heard two of them.

They decided to eat their dinner and then turn in for the night. After a quick meal of instant ramen, they settled into their beds. The future boys were in one room and the past boys were in another.

**Me: Ha.. longest. Chapter. I have. Ever. Written. Ugh… hope you liked it! Please guess what the picture means! I would love it like crazy if I ended up with a like-minded reader. So guess so I can know! Please? Thank you! **


	2. Author Note: GOMENASAI!

**Hello. Uhm so not only do I have writer's block, but I'm moving! Not only that, but because of certain circumstances, I might be living in a car for a while, meaning my internet access will be limited. So sorry! And then, by the time we get a house, school will have started again! Grr... Oh well, since I'm going back to public school this fall, my school time/free time will be more predictable, meaning that updates will be more regular, not 3 updates on week and then none for a month like I have been doing. So it will be a while before I can update again. I'm moving out of a negative environment and into a positive one, so hopefully when I do have the time to write I will be in the right mindset to overcome my writer's block on all three of my stories. Anyway, later my lovely readers!**


	3. Chapter 2

**Me: GOMENASAI! No words can possibly describe how bad I feel right now! I haven't updated a single story for MONTHS! Hopefully I can get back into it during my free time.**

**Anyway, back now, so, enjoy I guess! This chapter might be kinda slow, and at one point the tone/writing style might change slightly due to where I dropped off, oh and there is minor Sakura bashing. In the first "series", she was too busy fangirling and crying over Sasuke to be useful in any way. So I'm fixing that now instead of in the timeskip like the original series did. (Key: bold=younger, **normal**=time-travelers.) So, without further ado, here's the chappy**.

The next morning, the four separate alarm clocks went off at exactly 4:10 AM, creating an echoing mass of beeps and shrieks as every single one was different. The four ninjas were out of bed faster than most people could blink, and then, after silencing their alarm clocks and meeting up in the kitchen, they simultaneously agreed to communicate on alarm settings so they wouldn't have a repeat.

**Naruto** was about to grab a bowl of cereal when **Sasuke** reminded him that Kakashi ordered them not to eat, or they might puke. Naruto said, "Well, I say that I'd rather eat and have energy with the risk of puking than go without and never know if I was crippling myself or not." After that, all four of them grabbed their food.

"Alright, so Sasuke and I will be watching the session, but we won't give any tips. This one is a crucial test that you-er, we –ugh – have to accomplish on our own." And **Naruto** and **Sasuke** nodded, finishing their breakfast.

At 4:50, they went out the door and headed to Training Ground 7. They arrived in 8 minutes, so they had two minutes before Sakura or Kakashi were "late." With thirty seconds to 5:00, Sakura finally showed up, and she immediately tried to catch **Sasuke's** eye, pointing out the effects of a new shampoo or something stupid like that.

After five minutes of waiting, Naruto and Sasuke started sniggering; some people never change, even if you turn back time by 5 years. They quickly whipped out a deck of UNO cards and began to play. However, they didn't realize that the cards were visible and seemingly moving on their own to Sakura. It didn't help when **Sasuke** and **Naruto** started giving each other's future counterparts advice on how to play.

Needless to say (but I'm gonna say it anyway), when Kakashi finally arrived at the training ground, he had two students seeming to be commanding hands of cards with their minds, and a third student who thought that said students were possessed. Kakashi himself was a little creeped out. Then he really questioned the sanity of his pupils when they seemingly waved goodbye to thin air. Yet Kakashi saw _something_, but it was too fast to be sure.

He explained the rules, set the timer, and the match began. Once again, **Naruto** charged Kakashi on his own, but at least he didn't start before he said "go." After Kakashi used the Substitution for the second time, **Naruto** realized he was no match for the jonin on his own, so he tracked down **Sasuke** and Sakura.

He said, "Look, I think the point of this test is teamwork. There's no way we can beat him on our own!" Sakura looked offended and scornful, and seemed ready to throw a nasty retort at him, but **Sasuke** said, "I agree with Naruto. None of us can take on Kakashi alone and still get those bells." Which thoroughly shocked Sakura; what on earth happened to her super cool-guy **Sasuke**-kun who didn't need anybody?! Finally, she agreed. "So, what's the plan?"

Kakashi had started to grow bored; they were already 45 minutes into the test, and only Naruto had made an attempt at the bells… was it possible they already figured it out?!

However, his concerns were disregarded when 10 Naruto's charged headlong out of the trees. He sighed, turned his nose back to his book, and quickly dispersed half the clones. But they jumped back and each clone multiplied itself by 10, creating a grand total of 50 clones. After he had once again cut the numbers in half, the clones multiplied again, summoning 250 clones.

Kakashi quickly realized it was a diversion, but he still wasn't fast enough; **Sasuke**, the fastest of the group, charged in behind him and snagged the bells. After Sakura and **Naruto** had tied their sensei to the stump, **Sasuke** tossed the bells to his teammates, leaving himself without one. Kakashi gave a short chuckle and said, "Well done, you did figure it out after all. Sasuke, I'm honestly surprised; at the introduction, you were consumed in your hatred and closed off from the rest of us. What changed?"

**Sasuke's** lips turned up in a slight smile and said, "Top secret; let's just say that some old friends popped in for a visit." which earned a smirk from **Naruto**. Kakashi then turned to his yellow-haired student and said, "That reminds me… Naruto, you're much more mature than you were yesterday. Did you run into another chunin again?" and Naruto and Sasuke nearly fell out of their tree laughing. "Who said it had to be a chunin? It was actually the same friends that paid Sasuke a visit. Don't worry, the Hokage knows… most of it…" Kakashi nodded and said, "Alright, if the Hokage knows, then I trust his judgment. Very well, you all pass! Not only that, but because you retrieved the bells before lunchtime, you are not restricted to the lunches I packed; you can go where you like for lunch." which earned a cheer from Naruto since he could get Ichiraku Ramen. Kakashi added, "Those who break the rules are scum; but those who abandon their comrades are worse than scum. Remember that."

**Naruto** and **Sasuke** ran to the trees where the future visitors were waiting. "Did you see that?! That was awesome!" cheered **Naruto**. Sasuke nodded and said, "Well done! So, that is step #1; getting over our "I'll do it all myself" attitudes." Naruto nodded and said, "Sasuke's right. In the last battle before we came here, our teamwork vanquished the enemy, but it was a very fragile teamwork. We had been separated for like, 4 years, and even before we separated, our teamwork was practically non-existent. Because of that, pure luck played a major role in our enemy's defeat."

**Sasuke** asked, "So, can you tell us what exactly happened in your timeline?" after Sasuke and Naruto gave a glance at each other, they both sighed and said, "Alright, I guess we should. Let's go back home though; if anyone hasn't seen you guys talking to "thin air" already, they will soon." And with that, they took off, running through the trees back to their apartment.

Little did they know, Sakura had overheard Sasuke and Naruto's part of the conversation, and wondered why they were staring into space like they were listening to someone talking.

Back at their apartment, they sat in the living room, and Sasuke decided to say his part first.

"As I stated yesterday, focusing my every thought on killing Itachi was a big mistake. Because of it, I thirsted for knowledge and avoided making any bonds with anyone. When I was easily defeated by an enemy that Naruto nearly wiped the floor with, I became jealous and even more determined to gain more strength. Now, Have either of you heard of the Legendary Sannin?" and the two boys shook their heads. "Well, in the Second Shinobi World War, the trio battled against Hanzo and survived, a feat which no other ninja had accomplished. Because of their prowess, strength, and capabilities, Hanzo gave them the collective title of the Legendary Sannin. This trio consisted of a man known as Jiraya, a woman named Tsunade, and another man named Orochimaru."

"Orochimaru performed many illegal experiments with the assistance of Danzo Shimura, one of this village's elders, simply to create weapons. He developed and used many forbidden jutsu; among those was one that would allow him to live forever. He would take over a body and have access to the former person's abilities. For example, if he took over a body with a kekkei genkai, he would gain that ability for the time he had that body. He heard about my development of the sharingan, so he set a plan into action to obtain it."

"He coordinated with Sunagakure to launch an attack on the leaf village. He infiltrated the chunin exams, planted one of his curse marks on me, and promised me more power. With my blind hatred toward Itachi, the promise of power was too tempting, so I left the village with a group known as the Sound Ninja Four. When the village found me missing, they formed a team of Shikamaru, who had been promoted to chunin, and Naruto, Kiba, Choji, and Neji Hyuga. You guys haven't met him yet. Anyway, they pursued me and the Sound Ninja Four, and Naruto and I had a final face-off at the Valley of the End, where Madara Uchiha and Hashirama Senju had their historic battle over the nine tails."

"In the end, I still went to Orochimaru's hideout, but thankfully, due to Naruto's team stalling us, I didn't make it in time to be used as Orochimaru's vessel that time; he had to wait a minimum of three years between body takeovers. Naruto's team, meanwhile, nearly died in their battles against the Sound Ninjas, though I didn't learn that part until recently. Three years later, I had grown powerful enough to kill Orochimaru when he tried to take my body. I did so, and gathered a team of three people I had met in my time with Orochimaru."

"I tracked down Itachi, killed him, and then, in my blindness, I was approached by the same masked man who released the nine tails on the village. He told me that Itachi had been manipulated into killing his clan, but the man presented it in such a way to turn me on the village on the path of vengeance. I eventually turned around, but it was too late."

**Sasuke** was dumbfounded; He did all that? Ouch. Okay, so maybe it was a good thing that his future self came back to fix things.

Naruto said, "I've been headstrong and even a little arrogant, but other than that, it's just been little mess-ups overall, and that's more raw luck than anything else. Now, the events that caused us to come back…" (A/N: I covered what Sasuke said, but I won't spell out all the events leading up to the most recent manga chapters. (I know I started with them finishing off Madara, but I'm changing it to defeating Kaguya but before they had their final fight and lost their respective arms. I'm just too lazy, sorry about that! I'll just assume you all remember)

The younger ninjas were speechless; that would be horrible to go through. While it was kinda cool that they were the legendary Sage of Six Paths' sons reincarnated, the price they paid was too great.

So, they resolved right then and there that they would set things right this time around.

After the past and future Naruto's stomachs announced it was time for lunch, they fixed up a delicious meal that replenished their energy from the practice test. They were getting ready to play a game of SKIP BO when they heard a knock at the door.

**Naruto** answered it, and it was Kakashi.

"Hello **Naruto**, is **Sasuke** home?" and the boy nodded and led Kakashi inside. The jonin said, "Alright, you two are on the very first team that has ever passed my test at all, let alone on the first "round.""

"The way this test has usually gone is this; all three attempt to retrieve the bells on their own. One realizes that they can't beat me alone and are too stubborn to try to ask for help, so they try to steal a lunch. The thief is tied to the post while the others eat their lunch in front of them. I tell them not to feed their dishonest comrade or they would be failed as well. To this day, not a single team assigned under my care has disobeyed the rule not to feed their teammate."

"On occasion, there is one who realizes they can't beat me alone and then goes to recruit their teammates, but the smart one gets scorned for thinking like that when only two can pass. So, I must ask, who first realized that it required teamwork?"

"It was **Naruto**. I was getting there already after watching him fight, but he came and approached Sakura and I. He asked us to team up, and Sakura looked like she would refuse, but I agreed, and then she had a complete attitude change." said **Sasuke**.

Kakashi frowned slightly; if what **Sasuke** said about Sakura was true, he would have to break the girl's fangirl tendencies to unlock her potential as a kunoichi. The only problem was that he didn't have the first clue how to do it. He supposed he would have to ask some of the other jonin senseis that had dealt with fangirls.

"Hmm… interesting…" he said. "You two are definitely far above and beyond what I could have ever expected. Now, I must file my report to the Hokage. We'll meet at Training Ground 7 again tomorrow at 6 AM for our first mission. Don't be late! And also, I will say this; you two show such potential that I think I might just leave my book at home for once."

The time travelers went slack-jawed; in their time, Kakashi always had his book with him, even on the Land of Waves mission, which would be in a few months time. And with that, their sensei hopped out the window instead of taking the door.

**Naruto** and **Sasuke** sighed with relief and the former said, "Man that was close. We might have to be more careful." His future self agreed and said, "Definitely. Time travel is harder than I thought!"

That night, after getting dinner (which consisted of instant ramen), they discussed the younger pair's tactics. They pointed out flaws, openings, weaknesses, as well as the strengths. Once they had thoroughly analyzed the "survival" test, they went to bed, and this time, they only had Sasuke set his alarm.

The next morning, they woke up at 5:00, showered, ate breakfast, and made it to training field 7 with 10 minutes to spare. Sakura arrived six minutes later, and she once again tried to interest **Sasuke** with her beauty routine.

As promised, Kakashi showed up on time without his book.

However, he caught a whiff of the new perfume that Sakura had used, and he said, "Sakura, I need you to head to training field 8. There's someone there that I need you to pay a visit to." Thinking it was a mission, she squealed with excitement and promised **Sasuke** that she would impress him with her work.

As soon as she was well out of earshot, **Sasuke** said, "I'm going to take a wild guess here and say that you didn't actually send her on a mission."

You could see the faint outline of a frown behind Kakashi's mask as he said, "No, I did not. You remember when Team 8 was announced? With the Hyuga heiress, Inuzuka, and Aburame kids? Their sensei is Kurenai Yuhi, a tough-to-the-core "no nonsense" kunoichi who has been entrusted with the task of making the shy Hyuga girl a brilliant ninja. If Hokage-sama believes Kurenai to be capable of that task, then she is more than capable of ridding Sakura of her "fangirl" tendencies, as they're called."

He clapped his hands once to make the group refocus, then said, "Enough with that; today, we will be taking our first mission. While you are one person short, I do believe you to be capable of this task." The two time travelers snickered because they knew what was coming; the dreaded "Rescue Tora" mission that is the bane of every genin to reside in Konoha.

Sure enough, six hours later, the two freshly graduated genin arrived at the mission room covered in scratches and bite marks with the dreaded cat in tow. As the mission dictated, the feline Houdini was unharmed, but only because Kakashi had stepped in to make sure it wasn't strangled.

Naruto and Sasuke had been debating the entire afternoon on whether or not to check on Sakura's progress, and so when they finally got their younger selves to agree, they made their way to training field 8. When they arrived, they had to try really hard to fight a laugh.

The biggest change was the clothes: now, Sakura wore an extremely practical rosy red tank top that reached her hips, and she also wore a pair of black shorts under a little pink skirt with splits in the sides, almost like her Shippuden outfit. Big change from her rather childish dress.

The next thing was that even though the rather strong wind was blowing from Sakura toward the observers, they couldn't smell any of the silly scented shampoo or perfume. She was also covered from head to toe in dirt, sweat, and grass, showing that she'd been through a rather rough day.

However, even if her outward look had changed, her personality hadn't. Even over the wind and distance between them, they could still hear Sakura whining about the loss of her hard work for Sasuke.

To their surprise, they also saw Ino Yamanaka, the girl from Team 10. They guessed that her sensei also deemed her fangirl tendencies unfit for a kunoichi.

_Flashback - earlier that day - Sakura centric_

_Sakura skipped happily along the path from training field 7 to training field 8._

_**Sasuke-kun will be so proud of me! My first day as a genin, and I'm special selected for a mission! Take THAT, Ino-pig!**_

_When she arrived at training field 8 however, she was shocked to see Team 8 already full-swing into their training. "Uh.. Excuse me, but my sensei told me to meet someone at training field 8, I must have gotten the wrong place."_

_The lady with dark curly hair and what looked like a dress made of bandages stepped forward and said, "Sakura Haruno, correct?"_

_"Yeah, that's me, but... How do you know my name?"_

_The lady smirked and said, "My name is Kurenai Yuhi, and you are in the right place. Your Team 7 sensei, Kakashi Hatake, asked me to help you get rid of "fangirl" tendencies, as they're commonly referred to. You can't base your appearance and behavior upon one crush on a boy. I'm supposed to teach you the practicalities of being a kunoichi and I -" she took a pause, frowned, and said, "Uhm, Haruno-san, are you wearing perfume?"_

_Sakura beamed and said, "You noticed? I wanted to catch Sasuke-kun's attention and-"_

_"WRONG!" Barked Kurenai. "Looks like you need a trip to the bath, and I am forced to spend an hour of my time babysitting you to make sure you don't just put on more scented perfume. Kiba, how long ago did you catch the scent of her perfume?"_

_"Scent...?" Asked Sakura_

_The boy named Kiba said, "About 5 minutes before she got here." Sakura visibly paled and said, "Wait... five minutes ago... I wasn't even halfway here!"_

_Kurenai smirked again and said, "Kiba here is from the Inuzuka clan, which uses jutsu to enhance their senses to match a canine's. Let me be the first to tell you that Konoha's Inuzuka clan isn't the only one with enhanced senses. In fact, when Shino here uses his insects, he can also track scents. So the first step to making you a worthwhile apprentice is to rid you of your desire to seduce the Uchiha kid."_

_Sakura began to protest, but one look from Kurenai shut her up. Kurenai smiled a little and said, "Now we're just waiting on one more. She should be here soon."_

_Shino said, "Sensei, my insects just told me that indeed, the Yamanaka girl is about a mile away." Kiba confirmed and said, "She also reeks of perfume." Kurenai smiled fully and said, "Excellent!"_

_Ino broke through the trees, and sure enough, she, too, smelled of perfume. Kurenai once again had to explain the reason she was sent there with no prior knowledge and what their goal was. So, Kiba and Shino were left to spar while the four girls went to the public bath._

_Kurenai told the girls to wait for her while she made a quick trip to the clothing store. She came back with two new sets of clothes: one for Sakura and the other for Ino. Ino's outfit also resembled her Shippuden outfit, but it wasn't anywhere near as racy; after all, at this point, she was only 12 instead of 16._

_The three girls were told to strip, but Hinata was so shy about being naked in front of anyone that in her attempts to stay covered, she wasn't getting anywhere. The other three were already naked, so Kurenai had them go on ahead to the shower to scrub off all the scented products so they wouldn't pollute one of the baths while Hinata finished changing._

_Kurenai supervised their cleansing attempts and pointed out where they went wrong. Ino tried to "miss" her neck and bosom, but Kurenai was at the top of her game in conditioning them into strong and focused kunoichi. In the end, they both came out clean and perfume and makeup free._

_They then enjoyed the bath, and Hinata slowly relaxed. She was still a shy, nervous and stuttering mess, but she wasn't as tense._

_They finally went back to the training field where they found Kiba and a transformed Akamaru being drastically outclassed by Shino. After the match ended with Shino as the winner, Kurenai immediately launched at Sakura and Ino. _

_"What the hell?!" cried Sakura_

_Kurenai barked back, "You have to think on your feet! A true ninja is never caught off guard!" and hence began the two fangirls' brutal training._

_Flashback end_

Naruto grinned and said, "Well, I'm quite sure that if she knew how Granny broke her fangirl habits, she'd be grateful for this." The three around him grew confused, and their faces showed it. Naruto laughed and said, "In the previous timeline, Sakura trained under Granny Tsunade and let's just say that from what she told me later, Sakura was barely able to even twitch after her sessions with Granny Tsunade."

His companions shuddered at the image, and decided to head home for the night.

**Again, GOMENASAI! I feel horrible! I hope I can get back into this, it's a story I love and I don't want to give up on it!**


	4. Preview: Possible rewrite

**Okay. So, I'm doing a slight rewrite. I purposefully didn't announce it in case I got so busy I couldn't complete it. Basically, all I'm changing is the placement of this. I'm setting it like this:**

**They fight Kaguya.**

**The ones not trapped in the Infinite Tsukuyomi are collateral damage. (But they don't notice at first.)**

**After they kill Kaguya, they start their argument/discussion that leads to their final fight, during which they lose their arms. However, their attempt to release the tsukuyomi fails, and they realize that the others had died **

**The tailed beasts send them back**

**So, there you go. Hope this goes well! (I'm skipping all that info and going straight to when they're sent back; my fight scenes suck. Lol)**

It was over. The war, Sasuke's vengence, everything. It was over. But everyone else was gone, too.

As the two shinobi gazed horror-struck at the battle field in front of them, both were relentlessly chewing themselves up inside.

_What went so wrong?_

_Why did I let this happen? _

_I would rather have to live my life all over again and fix this than live so alone._

"Look up, young ones."

And, look up they did.

There, standing around them, were all the Tailed Beasts and their previous Jinchuurikis; Even Mito, and...

"Mom!"

The spiky blonde haired Jinchuuriki jumped up and ran into the arms of the mother he had only met once. At first, many thought he was laughing, and maybe he was, but it soon became clear he was sobbing his heart out. "Why me mom... *sob* ... why does everyone I care about have to leave? ... First you and dad died, and ojii-san, and Sasuke left the village, a-and Gaara almost died, and then Jiraya-sensei, and now everyone's gone... and Sasuke, too! Why does this always happen to us?! I don't understand mom... I don't..." He had worn himself out. Between training with Kurama and Killer Bee, then fighting Obito, and Madara, and Kaguya, then Sasuke, and losing his right arm to top it all off, he was physically and mentally drained.

Meanwhile, his mother's heart was breaking... Her sweet little boy, stolen from her arms shortly after his birth, had been through so much... too much, in fact. He should never have gone through everything he's been through. That's why, when she communicated her plan to the other Tailed beasts and Jinchuurikis (without letting Sasuke know) and they told her it was "against the rules," she enthusiastically demonstrated her wide range of colorful vocabulary for them all to hear.

After the tailed beasts 'held council,' they decided that she was right; Naruto had been through too much, but even besides that fact, the balance of life had been thrown off course. As it was, their world was doomed for destruction anyways. There was a reason that no one had ever attempted to use the Infinite Tsukuyomi; as much as it was possible, the moon simply isn't meant to be used like that. Even though no one else knew it yet, the moon would soon break into pieces and rain down upon the Earth's surface. (Naruto The Last; just go with it lol) The least they could do was save another world, and another Naruto, from this fate. **(A/N: This may or may not be why the moon is gonna do that in the movie, but I'm giving it my best.)**

So, they announced to Kushina that they had changed their minds.

After what seemed like hours later, Naruto woke up. It was then that both living shinobi were told the plan; they would be sent back in time to fix what went wrong.

After the initial shock had passed, they elaborated; Naruto and Sasuke would be sent back in time, but to another dimension, separate from their own. "But... wait, if it's a separate dimension from our own, will that still affect this one?" questioned Naruto.

Mito, who had mostly remained quiet thus far, said, "Sadly, that cannot be known. Such a technique has only been theorized in the past; the execution of it has been planned many times, but the world has simply sorted itself out. In this case however, there is no chance of the world "fixing itself;" too much damage has been done."

"As of this moment, with or without your intervention in the past, the moon will rain down in pieces and destroy what little life is left on this Earth. If, by some miracle, this plan works, and your intervention affects this dimension, then hopefully the moon will not bring about the end. If you do change another dimension for the better, but this world still meets its demise, then you may choose to stay in the dimension you've changed. A few more days should be enough, right, Ōtsutsuki-sama?"

Sure enough, the Sage of Six paths, Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki, had been listening and watching the entire time. Now, he agreed with Mito's unspoken question. "Yes, no more than a week." apparently Sasuke and Naruto weren't doing so well at concealing their confusion, because he clarified, "I can work a piece of my chakra into the jutsu to inform you when or if this world collapses or takes on the changes you've made to the other dimension. It will take a few days, because this is a very fragile jutsu; the slightest disruption could possibly cause innumerable problems, so it will take a few days to rewrite it enough to permit my chakra."

"As I'm already dead, it will simply be a matter of if I, as I am now, cease to exist; if this succeeds, and this world takes on the changes from the other dimension, you will be the only ones who remember this world as it was; the rest of us will exist as we would if this world never existed. Do you understand? _Your_ memories will not change, but ours will."

They made their understanding clear, and with that, Hagoromo went off into some nebulous corner of the "area" they were in to begin work on integrating the changes he would be making.

Over the next few days, they talked, they cried, they even found the strength to laugh at times, and Kushina tried her damnedest to give Sasuke the love only a mother can; the love he had known and lost. If you counted all the tears in those few days, and separated the happy ones from the sad, most of the happy ones were from those three shinobi. Kushina had even indulged them with the story that she and Mikoto had bet that Sasuke and Naruto would be best friends.

But, finally, it was time to go.

"When you arrive in the past, you will still be in your current bodies, but if the adjustments we have made actually work, you should have your arms back." said Hagoromo.

"Also; finding the right dimension to send you to is difficult; getting too picky would just be inefficient. The closest dimension we could find was one in which you two have just passed your initial Genin authorization exams; never mind the survival test. Unfortunately, trying to find a similar enough dimension where Minato and Kushina have not yet been killed would be nearly impossible; the same goes for the Uchiha coup de tat and massacre."

"Possibly the last and most important thing you should know is that you will only be able to interact with your younger counterparts - with one exception. Under most circumstances, you will only be able to speak with and physically touch your younger selves. However, if, for some reason, your younger selves are at risk of death, you may be able to interact with those necessary to save them. If they are in combat, you can vanquish their enemy. If they have already been injured, you can retrieve a medical ninja for assistance. Understood?" he finished.

They confirmed their understanding, and then he added; "Oh, and I almost forgot - I'm too old to do this anymore - if your younger self dies after you make contact with them, the balance of nature and the jutsu will consider their death your fault, and will take your life as well; like the Death Reaper's seal." Although they looked a little nervous, they still nodded.

After one more tear-filled goodbye, they prepared the justu, and off they went.

**Short Chapter, I know, But this is more of a sneak preview kind of thing. Rereading my work, I realized that I made both Sasukes too nice and forgiving too fast. So, since I'm truly horrible at fight scenes and personality transitions, I decided to set it after Naruto and Sasuke's final fight. Tell me which one you like better, and I'll work on that.**


End file.
